By ERIN BURT
erin@newsroom.byu.edu
Several marijuana plants were found inside the closet of a 16-year-old male Orem resident by his relatives visiting from out-of-town on Saturday, according to the Orem police.
Police said the family members also found a set of instructions that appeared to have come from the Internet, detailing instructions on how to grow marijuana.
Orem Police did not know where the juvenile obtained the seeds to grow the illegal plants, nor did they know which Web site he obtained the information from.
'It's much easier to access this kind of information at home at a computer,' said Lt. Doug Edwards of the Orem Police Department. 'You can't exactly get it at the public library.'
By doing an advanced search on the Yahoo! Internet search engine, over 5,600 hits are found. Several of the sites have disclaimers at the beginning stating their purpose is for educational use only. Most of the sites claim no responsibility for others' actions with their information.
'The fact that this kind of information is even available right there at his fingertips is disturbing,' Edwards said.
Police said they assume the boy did not want anyone to know about his activity because he hid the plants in a locked closet.
'We don't even know for sure if the parents knew what he was doing,' Edwards said.
Because the suspect was not home when the police answered the call of his relatives, Edwards was still unsure why he was growing an illegal substance in his home.
'But I don't think he was raising it for a house plant,' Edwards said.
The police photographed, boxed and booked the plants as evidence. The 16-year-old Orem boy will be referred to Juvenile Court for cultivation and for possession in a drug-free zone.